The Greatest Of These
by Archonix
Summary: Rarity has disappeared. Not just stepped out or gone away on short notice, but completely disappeared, leaving her work unfinished, her friends mystified and, for some reason, her hair all over the ground outside the Carousel Boutique.
1. Prologue

**The Greatest Of These**

**Prologue**

It was the hair that finally tore Rarity from her work.

Losing the occasional hair was nothing new, it happened to the strongest mane, but five at once? Rarity glared at the deep purple strands laced across her latest piece of work, marvelling for a moment at just how they improved the look of the piece — but no no no, to start using her own hair in her work? That would never do! — and then let out an annoyed huff. It was stress. It had to be stress, she'd been overdoing it for weeks thanks to a series of profitably huge orders from Canterlot, orders resting on the back of her performance for Cadence's wedding, for a dress that had survived an invasion of bodysnatchers or chrysalids, or whatever they were. A work of art from Carousel Boutique had once again become the thing in Canterlot high society.

Too good, that was her problem. Too good for her own good. Rarity gently lifted the hair from the dresser's dummy before her and scooted it over to a table, ignoring the twinge at her shoulders as she turned her head. Too much work, not enough fresh air. She'd probably pulled a muscle carrying all four bolts of cloth back from the station but it would be worth it. Orders from Canterlot were always so very profitable. She'd take a long, relaxing holiday afterwards, forget about work for a while and just rest on her laurels a little bit. Surely she deserved that?

Rarity cantered to the door and stepped outside, shivering as the cool night air caressed her body, its chill fingers sparkling her mind awake. She looked up at the stars, ignoring another tweak of pain in her back. The sky was so wide, so deep. It almost felt like she could fall in. Yes, an escape was what she needed. A few weeks away, to herself, where there were no more rush jobs and last minute orders to fulfil. Maybe she should take a little time and visit her cousin in Coltchester. Maybe she could go somewhere else entirely. Somewhere across the sky...

She closed her eyes, uncaring, as the cooling breeze gently unwound another long lock from her mane.


	2. Hidden Things

The sun crept over the horizon to find a town already filled with activity; market stalls setting up, shops opening, farm workers snatching a short breakfast after an already long, laborious morning. Twilight was banished by the bright light, sent to far distant corners and the shade of tall trees.

Which was an amusing thought, Twilight Sparkle decided, as she set about preparing for the day's work. The sun promised a bright, hot summer's day and she would have given anything to be able to laze under some shady arbour or by a quiet pool and, just for once, not have to plan out the necessary detail of every moment of her waking life. Ah but, she thought with a wry shake of her head, that would require a detailed plan of how to deal with everything she hadn't done that day.

It never ended.

"Though I suppose I could fit in five minutes of quiet shady contemplation after my lunch date with Rarity," Twilight mused, lifting a small stack of books from her writing stand and examining the chart for today. It was colourful, as if a rainbow had been very neatly spilled on the page in tidy rows. Yes, that would do, as long as Rarity wasn't late — which she never was.

Satisfied with the amendment, Twilight rolled up the chart into a scroll and hid it away just as Spike wandered into the room. He stared at her and rubbed his eyes.

"Good morning Spike, nice to see you up and about at such a reasonable time for once!"

"Hey Twilight." Spike rubbed his face, yawned, and gave Twilight a bleary once-over. "Where did that scroll just disappear to?"

Twilight frowned. Could he have forgotten so quickly? "It's a St Ossory's Pocket, Spike, I explained it to you last night." She paused for a response, but the little dragon seemed oblivious. "A magical spell that lets me store items in a hidden space that follows me around at any time and is completely self-sustaining for potentially thousands of years? Pre-dates Starswirl himself?"

"Oh yeah, that thing, I guess I forgot."

"I showed you that thing yesterday afternoon, twice, and again last night!" Twilight had honestly tried not to raise her voice, but it seemed that sometimes she couldn't help it around her put-upon assistant. Spike's shoulders seemed to sag just a little. "Spike, please don't think I'm mad at you..."

"It's okay, I'm just the dumb baby dragon, what do I know?"

"Spike!"

The little dragon's face suddenly split in a huge grin. He laughed, then laughed again at Twilight's obvious confusion.

"Spike, what's so funny?"

"You, thinking I didn't pay attention," Spike said, wiping a tear from his eye. He let out a few final chuckles and grinned again. "Sometimes you're so easy to bait, Twilight."

"I think maybe you spent a little too much time with those other dragons," Twilight muttered, though she couldn't help smiling in return. This was better than the Spike who'd spent days looking for his sense of identity but, still, sometimes she worried a little about his moods; he seemed to be quieter these days, slipping into the background more and more as if he was starting to see himself as some sort of outsider. "If you're done playing pranks, there's plenty of real work to do around here and since I've got a lot to do today, you've got plenty of time to do it without me getting in your mane. Er, scales." She paused to consider this idea, then shook her head again and turned to the door. "Sounds about right anyway. See you later, Spike!"

Spike, by this time holding a large mop and bucket, gave something like a mock salute and turned to face the shelving. He waited for the door to slam, then a moment longer before tossing the mop to one side. "Like she ever checks..."

"I'm still here, and I do check," Twilight said next to his ear. He didn't jump, but only because he was too surprised to move. Twilight ruffled Spike's spines and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You might have learned a few pranks from dragons but I, Spike, I learned from the best. Make sure you get behind the sink this time and maybe I'll bring you a little treat from Rarity."

This time she left Spike with possibly the widest grin she'd ever seen him carry. Unfortunately, now she was late. Lamenting the injustice of the world, Twilight retrieved her schedule and carefully erased her five minutes of relaxing shade. She'd just have to do it tomorrow.

Fluttershy alighted before the door to the Carousel and waited for a moment to see if the door would open by itself, before knocking as gently as she could. "Rarity? Are you there?"

There wasn't an answer but that was okay, probably. She tried again, a little louder. "Rarity? You missed our spa date and I know you're busy, and I'm probably not being fair for expecting you to come along to it, but you seemed like you needed a rest and I was wondering, um, if that's okay..."

Her voice trailed off, as did her more persistent knock. The door swung slightly on its hinges, silently revealing a completely deserted interior. Fluttershy blinked, nervous eyes darting back and forth as she took in the scene.

"Oh she's probably just stepped out for a moment, I'll come back," she said, her voice so quiet she could barely hear herself.

As she stepped back from the door a movement on the ground caught her eye. She knelt down for a closer look. A lock of dark hair trailed across the path. As Fluttershy raised her head she saw more of the hair, great snaking clumps of it in a long trail that ended a little way past the edge of the Carousel's neat garden in a scattered flower of long purple tresses, sprinkled with short tufts of white and grey. She carefully stepped around the trail, eyes wide, taking in every detail.

"Oh my..."

"Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy looked up. A streak of colour crossed the bright summer sky, spun around a cloud and plummeted toward her to halt mere inches from her face. Rainbow Dash grinned at her, wings flapping. She was upside down.

"Hiya Fluttershy, is that cat around?"

"Rainbow, I'm so glad you're here, Rarity's missing!"

"Missing?" Rainbow Dash righted herself and dropped to the ground with a resounding thump, completely failing to notice the dust and hair that rose in a cloud around her legs. "She's supposed to be helping me pick out new curtains for my... I mean she's supposed to, er, we were going to the... gym?" Rainbow seemed to consider what she'd just said and then shrugged. "Anyway she can't be missing. Where would she go?"

"She's not at home and I found this," Fluttershy said, pointing at the circle of hair. Rainbow stared down at it for a moment and then looked around.

"Ponies don't just explode... do they?"

"I don't really know, it's not—"

Fluttershy was cut off by the sound of Rainbow's hooves clopping together. She looked triumphant. "Zecora knows about these things! To the forest!"

Raimbow Dash zoomed into the air, wings ablur, Fluttershy trailing in her wake.

"Actually I think Twilight—"

"Twilight?"

"There are some really strange things about this, I think she might be more prepared—"

"To the book depository!"

"But she's not at the—" Rainbow dashed past Fluttershy, leaving her spinning in the air and completely confused. Even for Rainbow this was manic, but Fluttershy tried to catch up with her anyway. "Rainbow, I really think we should slow down and think about this a little more."

"Are you kidding me? There's a mystery to solve!"

"That's what I mean..."

Rainbow slowed a little and looked over her shoulder at her friend. "Fluttershy, the worst thing we could do right now is think. We need to find out what happened! What if she's hurt somewhere? Or trapped in a big room with a bunch of fashion nerds drooling all over her... her... they could do anything!"

"Oh, I don't think that's the problem. Didn't you see the—"

"She could be the victim of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street!" Rainbow redoubled her speed, leaving Fluttershy in her wake yet again.

"You just made that up!"

The two ponies continued to bicker as they arced across Ponyville's sky — or, at least, Rainbow bickered. It seemed to Fluttershy that her friend could bicker all by herself if she so desired, but at least that meant she had someone to listen to and it left Fluttershy with time to think of what to say to Twilight when they found her. Ponies didn't just explode for no reason, Fluttershy was fairly certain on this point. She was also certain that they didn't suddenly shed copious amounts of hair, nor leave giant dragon tracks all over the place. The conclusions settling in her mind were, in a word, unsettling.

"A dragon?"

Twilight fought the urge to look around the sky for ravenous beasties descending. Instead she gave her two friends an extra-close look and a frown that she hoped added a little gravitas. The effect was somewhat spoiled when a short breeze lifted up the umbrella in her drink and dropped it on the table between them. "Are you sure?"

There was silence for a moment. The other patrons had either not noticed her outburst or were carefully ignoring the word 'dragon' and getting on with their meals.

"Quite sure," Fluttershy replied, though now she was looking at the ground again, a sure sign that she knew she was right and didn't want to make a fuss about it. "I mean, it's possible that Rarity just happened to dig several holes that look like claw marks, then shaved off all her hair and ran away..."

"Yeah," Rainbow added, more for the show of things. It was obvious that she was a little embarrassed by the defensive flare of her wings.

"So lets get this straight." Twilight began pacing as she tried to order her thoughts. "Rarity has disappeared, her garden has a few holes that might be dragon tracks and for some reason all her hair has..."

"Fallen out," Fluttershy finished. She looked up. "That's not normal."

"There's a lot about this town that isn't normal," Twilight said, recalling just a few of her recent adventures. There were times when she wondered how anyone in Ponyville slept at night. "Dragons rarely have anything to do with ponies at the best of times. Not counting Spike, the last time a dragon took a pony anywhere around here was decades ago, and even then it was an accident. And why would a dragon cut her hair? They're not exactly known for their skill with scissors."

She turned to face her friends again; their eyes were downcast, already starting to accept something that had seemed unthinkable even a few moments earlier. "Snap out of it you two!"

Fluttershy squeaked in surprise, but seemed to come to her senses. Rainbow Dash just looked miserable.

"Sorry Twilight..."

"Better. Now, what if she just had to leave suddenly?"

The pegasid pair perked up at the suggestion; all three would have believed even the most preposterous idea if it meant they might see Rarity again soon and Twilight wasn't yet ready to even consider the possibility that her friend had been... had...

"Rainbow, you go and check the station to see if Rarity took an early—" Twilight's sentence was lost in a cloud of dust as Rainbow shot into the air, her face set in determination. _So eager._ "— train. Fluttershy, I'd like you to go and check in on Spike. He's been a little out of sorts this week."

"Oh certainly, Twilight, whatever you say!" She turned, then paused. "Um, what are you going to do?"

"After I've checked out the Carousel I'm going to see Zecora. For some reason, Every time somepony in this town does anything even slightly odd it involves the Everfree Forest."

"Oh..." Fluttershy pawed the ground and seemed to be trying to come to a decision. Her head dropped just a little. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"It's perfectly safe... well, it's not as dangerous as... no. But if anypony has been in there, Zecora will know."

"But going alone? I don't think that's a good idea, Twilight. Remember the cockatrice?"

"I promise, I'll go straight to Zecora and come straight back. Easy." She waited for the sceptical look on Fluttershy's face to subside before going on. "Anyway, I thought you were in and out of Everfree all the time these days."

They started down the road to the centre of town, Fluttershy falling a little behind Twilight as they went. "Only when I have to. You know how I feel about that forest."

"There is nothing in that forest that can't be explained by simple scientific observation."

"Yes, that's what scares me. I know exactly what's in there these days." Fluttershy's eyes squeezed together as she thought about everything she'd met in the Everfree Forest; the worst of her imagination had conjured nothing that could compare to some of the things that haunted the dark crevices and lurked in the shadows of the deep woods. "It was better when I wasn't sure, at least then I could pretend I was wrong."

I really hope we're wrong now, Twilight thought. She looked up at the sky away, unconsciously searching for any sign of dragons, knowing that she'd not be able to do much if she saw one. Either it wasn't paying attention, in which case it would be best left alone, or it was paying attention, in which case you ran for the nearest cover and hoped it got bored before it remembered it could breath fire.

There was a small crowd outside the Carousel Boutique by the time Twilight arrived. Ponies milled around uncertainly, chattering, but keeping their distance from the building and the worrying pile of hair. The conversation slowed as Twilight approached and ponies turned to look at her with various levels of worry and concern.

It was a reminder of how many people came through the boutique for one thing or another; how generous Rarity was with her time, for so many to be here now for appointments and help that she now might never be able to give. Was that it? Had she finally run away from all the clamour and demands others brought to her door? But that wasn't like her...

Twilight stepped through the small crowd and stopped at the trail of hair. She lifted a lock close to her face and peered at it, then tucked it away in her Ossory's Pocket. Under the silent gaze of the crowd she stepped carefully across the garden, making a note of an impression that did seem to look a lot like a dragon print, but odd and misshapen, as if the foot that had made it had melted first.

Inconclusive, she thought. There might be more information inside. It was just fortunate that this crowd apparently hadn't dared enter without Rarity there. Speaking of which...

Twilight turned to the crowd. Already they were looking at her, expectant, as if by merely doing something she was in charge of everything. She cleared her throat.

"Everypony, I'm afraid that Rarity won't be able to see any of you today. She's, uh... not well. I mean not here."

The crowd looked at her in silence. All of them. Did they want more?

"So, you can just... go home, I guess."

"What about the dragon?" This from a young colt near the front. He pushed forward, flipped his mane out of his eyes and looked around. "Everypony says she was taken by a dragon."

"Dragon? Who said anything about a dragon, there's no dragon!"

An older mare pushed up next to the colt and glared at Twilight. "I saw a dragon flying over the town last night! It was black as sin and ugly as... as sin!"

"I really don't—"

"It kept telling me to burn things!"

The crowd seemed to relax. Just some old crazy mare, was he collective thought, of course there's no dragon. One by one, then in pairs and threes they began to disperse, leaving Twilight along with the old mare and the colt. They looked at each other and then at her.

"Well I'm convinced," the elder said with a sudden, worrying grin. She nudged the colt, turned and stamped her hoof on the floor, right next to one of the odd imprints. "Come along sonny, lets go find your grandfather."

Twilight watched until they were out of sight and then turned her attention to the Boutique. The door was still ajar and the dust of numerous hoofprints rested on the threshold but, strangely, nobody had dared venture inside.

She felt the magical field as soon as she entered. A grinding, bitter sort of feeling that set her teeth on edge accompanied by a tang of metal on the air. A remnant of a powerful spell lingered here, and old, far older than anything Twilight had experienced before, older than anything she knew even existed before. She closed her eyes, summoning a spell of allsight, and slowly moved to the centre of the room as she let the magic flow into her mind. Here was the core of it, there a filigree of purple-white light tracing out as the spell had spread throughout the building, wrapping around columns. In her mind's eye Twilight could trace every path it had taken until it had found Rarity, but what it had done...

Twilight moved as if her eyes were open, trotting around the circumference of the room until she reached the spot where Rarity had been when the spell found her. Tendrils of light mapped out her shape in almost painful detail as the spell had wound its way around her, imprinting a shadow of her form on itself as she and it had worked. Here and there faint trails followed Rarity's movements around the workroom, leading to faint impressions of her as she had paused to pick up a different tool or some piece of work. A slow-burner, something designed to operate at an extremely low level and in a most profound way.

There was a knock at the door. Twilight dropped her allsight spell so fast she gave herself a small headache. With a wince she turned to the door.

"Applejack? What are you doing here?"

"Soon as I heard I dropped everythin' and came right over to help. If I can help, that is..." She lingered at the door, seemingly reluctant to enter. "I've got Sweetie Belle stayin' over but I haven't told her yet. So what's goin' on? There's hair and hoofprints and a whole mess all over the place out there. It's sorta like that time Granny an' me went to the county fair and she got herself into too much of the ol' scumble."

Twilight grunted and turned back to now invisible magic woven throughout the room. She looked over her shoulder at Applejack. "Someone cast a spell on Rarity, one I've never even seen before. It's... strange."

"Strange how?" Applejack stepped into the room, shuddered and stepped back. "That is _the_ weirdest thing I have ever felt in my life. Twilight, what's going on?"

"It's some sort of slow-acting curse," Twilight answered. She eased open her mind again, letting Machini's _Visio Externalis_ layer itself over the magical field, revealing the minute detail, before stepping back to look at Rarity's shade. The lines of the spell continued to flow past her, through Applejack and the door where they seemed to peter out in the sunlight. Something wasn't quite right, but Twilight couldn't put her hoof on it. She peered deeper into the shade. It was as if something had begun to change shape.

Applejack swore quietly under her breath.

"I ain't never seen anythin' like this before. What is goin' on around here?"

"I don't know," Twilight said, banishing her spell. The older magical field remained, grating against her nerves like a horrific screech. She'd have to do something about that later otherwise nobody would be able to use the Carousel again. As she moved to the door she spotted a few strands of hair tied in a neat coil on the table. Twilight lifted the hair and tucked them into her Ossory's Pocket. As the holding spell opened the magical field in the room suddenly seemed to... to tense, was the only way Twilight could describe it, like a band pulling tight, accompanied by a sudden spike of pain directly beneath her horn. She quickly retreated to the door.

"You okay, Twi?"

"I've been better," Twilight replied, panting just a little as the pain eased away. Despite, or perhaps because of her aching head, Twilight carefully shut and locked the door of the Carousel. "We're going to need help."

Far from the town, farther still from the Everfree Forest, a trader tugged his cart slowly along a dirt track, grumbling and muttering to himself, apparently as a way to pass the time. The forest was deep here, and dark and the track, overgrown with grass and weeds, showed little sign of use, something the trader seemed to lament every few yards.

His cart bucked and shuddered through ruts collapsed by rain and blocked with stones, followed by a huge slam as the backboard, which had shaken loose one of its hooks, swung out and back against the body of the cart. A grunt of frustration usually followed but the trader refused to slow, lest his cargo be late.

Of course he could have taken the train. He could have thrown money down the river as well, for all the use it did. Trains might be fast but they were crowded and noisy, and got soot in his cargo which would completely ruin it and then where would be be?

At this the trader finally halted, stretched his aching back and unhitched from the cart.

"Inspection time," he muttered gruffly, with a voice that spoke of too many years hawking his wares at full volume. "Probably find it's all fallen out fifty miles back too, I shouldn't wonder."

The old colt tramped to the rear of the cart and nosed the damaged backboard open to peer inside. Neatly stacked bolts of cloth greeted him with their finery, almost every one a unique treasure. With something that wasn't quite a smile the trader turned away and looked around for something to secure the backboard more securely. He blinked.

Then, after a moment of staring at a rock that would certainly not help, he realised that he hadn't blinked at all. The trader looked up; a shadow was coasting gently down the track towards him. Some sort of fast-moving cloud? He looked higher. A white dragon soared along the road, eyes fixed on him. The trader tried to say something but all he could manage was a quiet yelp.

The dragon bore down on him with an almighty roar that was almost matched by the trader's own terrified scream. He ducked, waiting for the inevitable, and felt... nothing. A rush of air, the flap of powerful wings, a sensation of something moving and then the dragon was gone.

Along with his cart.

The trader glared at the retreating shape of the dragon and spat. Now what would he do when he reached town? He stared at the empty sky for some time, deep in thought, then slowly turned and continued on his trek. He'd had made almost half a mile before the shock reached his legs and turned them to jelly.

It was turning out to be a very bad day.


End file.
